BANGKOK, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- The unofficial death toll from Sunday afternoon's plane crash at the Phuket International Airport in southern Thailand has risen to 75 as the airport closed for air traffic.

    Original reports said the 175-seat MD 82 plane, operated by Thai budget carrier One-Two-Go, had 128 persons aboard, including 123 passengers and five crew, while Thai News Agency later said besides 123 passengers, there were seven crew members.

Rescue workers stand near the site of a plane which crashed at the Phuket airport September 16, 2007. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Latest unofficial death toll is at 75, while some 42 were injured and hospitalized, many of them foreigners.

    Services at the Phuket International Airport were suspended while airport workers and emergency personnel cleared the runway of wreckage in the aftermath of the crash.

    About 1,000 passengers were affected after four flights from the airport, three Bangkok-bound and the fourth for Hong Kong, have been canceled.

    Before leaving Bangkok for Phuket together with other senior officials, Thailand's Deputy Minister of Transport Sansern Wongchaum on Sunday evening said that the Phuket airport is expected to resume operations at 6 a.m. Monday morning (2300 GMT).

    Airport administration officials said the two-engine airplane, flight number OG 269, took off from the Bangkok's Don Muang airport at 2:30 p.m. (0730 GMT) Sunday, and arrived at the airport around 3:40 p.m. Sunday (0840 GMT).

    After a failed landing attempt, the aircraft skidded off the runway, crashed into trees and walls around the airport before it broke into two sections and burst into flame.

    There was heavy rain when the plane tried to land. Weather in Phuket has been bad for several days, with thunderstorms and high wind gusts at times.

    Authorities have not confirmed the exact number of casualties and foreign victims. While list of foreign victims retreated at local hospitals include British, Iranian, Australian, Swedish nationals, as revealed by local media.

    The Chinese Consulate-General based in southern province of Songkhla, confirmed to Xinhua that no Chinese citizens, whether from China's mainland, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan, were on the passenger list it got from the airport.

    The Phuket province is an island located on the eastern coast of Indian Ocean in southern Thailand and one of Southeast Asia's most popular tourist destinations.

    The One-Two-Go airline, a domestic subsidiary to Bangkok-based Orient Thai Airways, runs Bangkok-Phuket flights from Don Muang airport, once known as the Bangkok International Airport, six times a week.

    Udom Tantiprasongchai, chairman of Orient Thai Airlines, told The Nation news group that he was deeply sorry at the tragedy and promised that the victims would receive maximum compensation.